If you needed heart surgery to lengthen the quality of your life, you would not go to a general practitioner or family medicine doctor. It is doubtful that you would even consider consulting a specialist outside the cardiology field. For instance, if you needed a stent put into your heart, you would seek a surgeon that specializes in interventional cardiology. To ensure the highest level of care you would want someone that has the proper credentials and specializes in this service.

The point is that many forms of medical practice are highly specialized. Many believe that finding a specialist to help with your dermatological or “skin” needs may be a simple task. However, an esthetician, general practice doctor or internist do not necessarily have the expertise and additional years of training for taking care of the biggest organ of the body — the skin. It is these qualifications that make the specialty of dermatology even more unique.

The skin is a manifestation of what is on the inside. Oftentimes dermatologists are thoroughly trained in internal medicine or family practice prior to being allowed to undergo the necessary years of advanced training in dermatology. The practice of cosmetic dermatology is even more specialized than general dermatology. It requires that the specialist be an artist, has the client’s best interest in mind, and is able to integrate art and medicine to optimize the most aesthetic yet natural looking results for their clients. Too often clients ignore this important factor in choosing a doctor to provide medical services on their skin. Often they do not stop to ask whether their physician is a licensed and board-certified dermatologist. Some practitioners claim to be board-certified. “Board-certified” is similar to saying, “I passed my test”, but it is important to ask what specialty they are board-certified in. Clients should make sure that their skin doctor is Board Certified in Dermatology. Unfortunately, clients often entrust those who advertise dermatology services even though these practitioners do not hold a specialized advanced training certification.

Worse yet, clients choose non-physicians (e.g. nurses, physician’s assistants) to provide services when these individuals may, in actuality, have very little experience in treating skin and can possibly cause unnecessary harm, all the while charging fees similar to that of a dermatologist.

Many clients unknowingly choose non-board certified physicians. These physicians will provide services within the spectrum of dermatology without informing the client that they are not specifically trained in the field. They may also neglect to give the client an option for referral to a board-certified dermatologist.

Some examples of procedures that should be performed by a board-certified specialist are: skin screening, skin biopsies, mole removals and cosmetic dermatology services. “In a study of 7 institutions representative of the U.S. medical schools in general, nearly 25% of all medical students surveyed had never even observed a skin cancer examination, and 43% had never examined a patient for skin cancer”

Don’t get caught on flawed advice. You want to get the quality of service you expect and deserve from your selected physician. Just sometimes this requires you to do a little homework.

An article this week on Modern Medicine’s website had a rundown of Botox’s upcoming competitors. It had two that have been mentioned repeatedly over the last few months: Dysport and PurTox not far behind, but it also threw in Xeomin, which is made by a company called Merz.

Merz is a well-respected German company. They sell other dermatology products in the US and will be well-received when they come to the Botox market in this country… Xeomin is already available in Europe.

Yet another Botox competitor coming: Xeomin

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She's assisted by her sons Charley and Mitchell.

Dr. Ly
Aesthetic Medical Artist & Instructor

Same Day Service!

Walk-ins Welcomed!

CLICK HERE to view Botox information from Aloha Dermatology and Laser Center.
89 Ho‘okele St. #101, Kahului
(behind Home Depot on your way to Walmart/Costco)

For those of you traveling from Makawao, Kula, Haiku, Wailea, Kihei, Lahaina, Kaanapali and Kapalua Click Here for Map of our location.

Maui War Memorial Gymnasium
Saturday, October 24, 2009
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon

Please join us at the Maui County 36th Annual Senior Citizens Health Fair on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at the Maui War Memorial Gymnasium from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon.

Come, have fun, and visit the many booths that will have health-care related displays and other pertinent information. Blood pressure testing, blood sugar level checks and hearing aids will be available. Many agencies and businesses such as the Maui County Office of Aging, Aloha Dermatology and Laser Center, Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital, Social Security Office, State Department of Consumer Affairs, State of Hawaii SAGE Plus Program, Organ Donors of Hawaii, County of Maui Recycle Dept., A&B Sugar Museum, Alzheimer’s Association, Hale Mahaolu, Hale Makua, Gammie Homecare, Maui Medical Group and many other agencies and organizations will also be present. Additionally we will have booths that will provide information on assisted living facilities and senior fraud protection. Miscellaneous crafts, flowers, plants, and a variety of delicious food prepared by senior clubs and other organizations will be on sale at this event. For those who are eligible, MEO will have a table to sign up for the Senior Citizens Discount Red Card. Free Admission.

The Senior Fair is produced by Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. and is sponsored by the Maui County Office on Aging.

Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. – Home Page

Resident physicians should be taught to screen for suspicious lesions, researchers say

MONDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) — Too few resident physicians have been trained in skin cancer examinations or watched or practiced the procedure, U.S. researchers report.

In a survey of 342 resident physicians in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and internal medicine, researchers collected information on the participants’ training and experience with skin cancer exams as well as their level of skill in performing the exams.

"Clinical training for the skin cancer examination during residency was infrequent," wrote Dr. Emily Wise, of the Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues. "During residency, 75.8 percent were never trained in the skin cancer examination, 55.3 percent never observed a skin cancer examination and 57.4 percent never practiced the examination. Only 15.9 percent of residents reported being skilled in the skin cancer examination."

The researchers found that performing four skin cancer examinations (about one per year of residency) was associated with improvements in skill levels reported by the respondents.

The findings are published in the October issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Melanoma is the second-most common cause of cancer in Americans aged 15 to 29. About one-quarter of melanomas are detected by doctors, rather than patients. Skin cancers discovered by doctors are generally thinner and have a better prognosis, according to background information in the study.

"Visits to internists and family practitioners make up an estimated 40 percent of physician visits in the United States, and nearly two-thirds of patients with melanoma report a physician visit in the year before diagnosis. Primary-care physicians are thus ideally suited to screen and triage high-risk patients and those with suspicious lesions," the study authors wrote.

"Residency programs and medical schools may have neither the time nor the infrastructure to teach an expert, comprehensive examination to all physicians in training," they concluded. "However, the basic ability to recognize potentially suspicious lesions and triage persons with such lesions should be a vital and key component of both training programs. If current physicians in training do not learn this skill set in medical school or residency, there is a low likelihood that they will acquire this knowledge in their day-to-day practice, which could have potentially devastating consequences for melanoma recognition going forward."

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about skin cancer screening.

– Robert Preidt

HealthDay

Aloha Dermatology

September 17 — 23 2009

Click Here to Visit the Veins on Maui Website

Kahului Maui Dermatologist Mr. Micki Ly reports that she and her clients have embraced this exciting and effective new treatment that includes stat-of-the-art closure technology—and the results are superior. The patented technology uses a very small catheter and radio frequency energy to close down the ugly vein with only a small nick in the skin on the leg under local anesthesia. Clients enjoy quick and effortless relief of their varicose vein symptoms, without the associated drawbacks of vein stripping (an invasive surgical procedure) general anesthesia, post-operative pain, bruising and prolonged recovery. For self-assessment information about this service, visit www.veins-on-maui.com or call Dr Ly’s office at (808) 877-6526 or a consultation.